


Mothers know best

by Ailendolin



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Awesome Frigga (Marvel), Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff, Frigga (Marvel) Knows All, Gen, Happy Ending, Odin (Marvel)'s A+ Parenting, Pre-Thor (2011), baby Loki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-28 16:32:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13275453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailendolin/pseuds/Ailendolin
Summary: The moment Odin placed the Jotun boy into her arms Frigga was certain of three things:He would be hers just as much as Thor was.His life would not be easy.He had powerful magic that could – and ultimately would – destroy all the plans Odin had for him.In which Frigga knows it's futile to keep Loki's Jotun heritage hidden, Odin lives in denial and tries it anyway, and Frigga is just so done with her husband.





	Mothers know best

**Author's Note:**

> So, this I got the idea for this fic while watches Frozen Fever, of all things. It's kind of crack - or at least a humorous look at how Loki's childhood could have gone if his magic had been uncontrollable. Odin is not portrayed in the most positive light here but he's not a bad guy either. Just a little desperate. Poor Frigga has a lot to deal with.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned here. They are the property of Marvel / Disney.

**Mothers know best**

The moment Odin placed the Jotun boy into her arms Frigga was certain of three things:

He would be hers just as much as Thor was.

His life would not be easy.

He had powerful magic that could – and ultimately would – destroy all the plans Odin had for him.

She told her husband as much. “Loki’s seiꝺr is unlike anything I have ever seen in a child so young. I know you want to hide his true heritage but it will not work for long.”

“Loki?” Odin asked. Frigga raised her eyebrow at him, daring him to argue. “Alright, Loki it is. But look at him, Frigga. He looks like any other Aesir child now. No one will suspect what he truly is.”

Frigga closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. “Did you not hear a word of what I just told you? His magic is so powerful it might one day rival ours. At his age he won’t be able to control his powers, his shape-shifting skills among them,” she added pointedly.

“Then teach him,” Odin said, dismissing her council with a shrug. “I’m sure you’ll think of something. I don’t care about magical mishaps, just make sure that boy doesn’t turn blue and cause an interplanetary incident.”

He turned around and Frigga watched him go with barely suppressed anger. She looked at the child in her arms and her eyes softened when she saw him smiling up at her. “You’re father can be the wisest man in the Nine Realms,” she told him quietly, “but right now he is an ignorant fool. He will realize his mistake before long.”

Loki gurgled happily at her and she gently tapped his nose. “That’s right. We’ll find our own way to mend the bridges Odin and Laufey burned. Come on, let us go and meet your brother. He will have a part to play as well.”

* * *

The first person who suspected Loki wasn’t what he seemed to be was Eir.

Together with Odin Frigga took Loki to the healer the same evening he arrived on Asgard to make sure he was alright. Odin hadn’t thought his presence necessary but Frigga had put her foot down. “If he is to grow up as your son you better start acting like his father.”

They walked into the healing halls side by side with Loki sleeping peacefully in Frigga’s arms. To say Eir was surprised when she saw them with a child that wasn’t Thor was an understatement, though she hid it well.

“Allfather, Allmother,” she said, bowing her head. “How may I be of service?”

Odin, in his infinite wisdom, said, “We have welcomed a new child into our family and need you to check if he is healthy.”

Inwardly, Frigga rolled her eyes. On the outside, her smile didn’t waver as Eir met her gaze. “His name is Loki,” she said pleasantly and handed the baby over to her.

Eir’s gaze shifted once more between them before she focused all her attention on the child. While her golden healing magic illuminated the room, a knock on the door sounded and a servant stepped in.

“My king,” he bowed, “the delegations of Alfheim and Vanaheim have arrived to discuss the peace treaty with Jotunheim.”

“I will be there at once,” Odin said a little too enthusiastically for Frigga’s liking, and with what she knew was supposed to be an apologetic look he turned to her. “I am sorry but I must leave.”

Frigga inclined her head at him and kept her thoughts to herself. “Of course. I will stay with our son.”

The moment Odin left the healing halls Eir glanced at her. “This child is not your son,” she stated matter-of-factly.

“Of course not,” Frigga said with a barely suppressed roll of her eyes. “We both know I cannot bear any more children.”

“The Allfather should be more careful with his words if he wants to keep the child’s true identity hidden,” Eir said rather pointedly.

Frigga nodded. “He can be rather clumsy with his words,” she mused. Eir met her eyes and Frigga huffed out a laugh at the long-suffering look that was directed at her. “Now tell me, friend, how is my son? Odin said he found him abandoned on Jotunheim. Are there any lasting damages due to the prolonged exposure?”

Eir shook her head and handed Loki back to her. “As far as I can see he is a perfectly healthy child. I suppose I will have to read up on Jotun physiology to see what counts as normal in frost giants, though.”

“Do that,” Frigga said. “And not a word of this to anyone. You and you alone will treat Loki in the future. Odin intends to keep this a secret so we both have to do our best to aid him.”

Eir raised an elegant eyebrow. “The child’s magic will make this rather … difficult.”

Frigga snorted and hugged the sleeping child close. “Difficult? Impossible, I’d say.”

* * *

As usual with most things Frigga turned out to be right. Loki was barely with them a week when the first Incident, as Odin took to calling them, happened. She was up late at night and on her way to her husband’s quarters with a crying Loki in her arms and an equally inconsolable Thor next to her holding tightly onto her hand.

“Your son needs you,” she said by way of greeting as she opened the door. At once Thor let go of her hand and raced to the bed. Frigga could barely hide her amused smile as Thor buried his face in his father’s chest and began telling him all about the nightmare he had. Odin looked up at her helplessly. Between it being the middle of the night and Thor’s barely discernible words it was obvious he had no idea what was going on. Thor, bless him, didn’t care that he got no reaction from his father but Frigga took pity on her son anyway.

“He had a nightmare,” she told her husband patiently as she shifted Loki to her other arm and gently stroked his head to calm him down. “He wanted his father’s comfort.”

“Oh,” Odin said. He started patting Thor’s back awkwardly and Frigga would have rolled her eyes at him if Loki hadn’t chosen that moment to interrupt his crying with a hiccup. In the blink of an eye he turned blue in Frigga’s arms. Wide red eyes were looking up at her in surprise while across the room another pair of eyes stared at her in alarm.

Frigga decided to disarm her husband with a smile before he could say anything. “Oh, isn’t he beautiful like this?” Without waiting for a reply her gaze moved back to her son. “Such intricate markings! And those eyes!”

Loki cocked his head at her and she laughed. He smiled and with another hiccup shifted back to his Aesir form. Across the room Odin breathed an audible sigh of relief. Frigga gave him a look and held Loki a little closer.

It was Thor who broke the awkward silence. “May I sleep here tonight?” he asked in such a pitiful voice that Frigga felt herself melt.

“Of course you can, my dear,” she told him with a smile. The panic on Odin’s face felt gratifying. _Let him learn the hard way what it means to care for children_ , she thought. It was high time he took an interest in their sons, anyway.

Gracefully, she moved over to the bed and placed a gentle kiss on Thor’s forehead as her oldest settled down next to his father. “Sleep well, my son. And you, husband.”

Ignoring Odin’s silent plea for her to stay she turned around and crossed the small hallway that separated their rooms. She placed Loki in his cradle and cast projections of the stars to help him fall asleep. He yawned and it was the cutest thing she had ever seen, bar Thor’s yawns as a baby, perhaps.

She couldn’t help but wonder if Loki would look even cuter yawning in his Jotun shape.

* * *

It was a miracle, really, that they managed to keep Loki’s true identity hidden from Thor for over a year. Incidents kept happening but either Thor (or anyone else for that matter) was never present for them or Loki’s change didn’t really register with him. That changed on the day of Loki’s birthday. It wasn’t really his birthday, of course, since neither Frigga nor Odin knew the exact date of when Loki had been born. Instead Frigga had chosen the day Odin brought him into their lives as a substitute.

Quite fittingly, the morning of Loki’s first birthday rare snow was falling from the skies over Asgard. Amused, Frigga donned her morning robe and was about to go to Loki’s room when Odin burst through her doors.

“Is Loki doing this?” he asked without preamble, pointing frantically at the falling snowflakes outside Frigga’s window.

Frigga smiled at him. “Good morning to you too, husband,” she said.

He turned to her. “How can you be so calm?”

“Because snow has been known to occur on Asgard every few winters?” she said innocently.

“But today of all days?” Odin asked.

Sweetly, Frigga inquired, “Ever hear of a thing called chance?” Odin frowned at her, clearly not as amused as she was by the whole situation. She didn’t care. “Come, husband, let us see if our youngest is indeed responsible for the coming of winter.”

Quietly, she opened the door to Loki’s room. The drapes were still drawn and the room was dark. No magic chased the shadows away. Frigga turned to Odin. “See? Loki is not about to turn Asgard into a second Jotunheim.”

Odin glared at her. “That’s not funny.”

She chuckled. “It’s a little bit funny. Now, why don’t you get Thor while I wake up the birthday boy? That way we can greet him as a family on his special day.”

With one last suspicious look at the sleeping child Odin nodded and while he went to wake up their oldest Frigga opened up the drapes to let light into Loki’s room. Her son began to stir in his bed, rubbing his little fists against his eyes and doing that adorable yawn of his that never failed to make Frigga’s heart melt. Behind her, the door opened again and Odin walked up to the bed with Thor in his arms. Together they watched as Loki opened his eyes. For a moment he simply stared at them before he let out a surprised, “Huh?”

Frigga laughed quietly. “Good morning, little one. Happy birthday!”

“Yes, happy birthday, Loki!” Thor said excitedly. He squirmed in his father’s arms until Odin set him down next to Loki. “Now you’re not a baby anymore and we can finally play together!”

Frigga shared an amused smile with her husband. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way, my dear,” she explained. “It will still take your brother some time to learn how to walk, let alone keep up with you.”

Thor frowned. “That’s not fair.”

“Life is rarely fair,” Odin told him.

Frigga sent her husband an admonishing look. Turning back to Thor, she smoothed her expression into one of reassurance. “Have patience, Thor. Soon, Loki will be able to play with you.”

Thor still pouted at her. “But I want to play with him now.”

“I know,” Frigga said softly, “but today is not about what you want, is it?”

Thor shook his head. “No, it isn’t.”

As if on cue, Loki started babbling happily. He smiled at them and reached with his tiny hands for Frigga. She couldn’t help herself and bent down with a grin before she blew a raspberry on his belly. Loki shrieked with laughter and she did it again. A tugging on her sleeve made her stop. “May I too?” Thor asked excitedly.

“Of course.”

Thor didn’t need to be told twice. Frigga moved back and watched her son simultaneously blow raspberries on Loki’s belly and tickle his sides. Loki’s laughter filled the room and Frigga turned to share a smile with Odin. They watched their sons contentedly until suddenly between one shriek of laughter and another, Loki changed color.

Confused, Thor turned around to look at them. “Did I do something wrong?”

Since Odin looked like he was having a heart attack, Frigga took matters into her own hands. She smiled reassuringly at Thor and gently placed her hand on his head. “No, you did nothing wrong, Thor. Sometimes, Loki looks like this. It’s something he can’t control yet.”

Instead of being content with that answer Thor’s frown deepened. “But why? Why is he blue?”

_Well_ , Frigga thought, _here we go_. “Do you remember those stories about the frost giants your father used to tell you?”

“I do,” Thor nodded. “They’re the monsters of Jotunheim.”

Frigga sent her husband an icy glare. She’d put a hold on those stories the moment Loki had come to live with them but it seemed the damage had been already done. Once more she had to clean up Odin’s messes. She was getting tired of it.

“Frost giants are no monsters, Thor,” she told him calmly. “We have talked about this. Being different does not equal being bad. To the Jotuns we would probably seem like monsters too. It’s all a matter of perspective.”

“But what does that have to do with Loki?” Thor asked impatiently.

Frigga’s smile was thin when she said, “Frost giants are blue, Thor.”

Thor’s eyes widened as he looked back at his brother. “He is a frost giant? But I thought he was my brother!”

“He is your brother,” Frigga stressed, “and he is my son.”

To her surprise, Odin added, “The fact that he is Jotun doesn’t change that he is part of our family.”

Frigga gratefully smiled at him, glad for the support. Thor pondered what they’d said for a moment before he asked, “So he won’t eat me if I don’t want to go to sleep?”

“Of course not,” Frigga said with a laugh, looking down at her two sons with fondness and so much love she could barely contain it.

Thor nodded. “Alright, then.” And with that he turned his attention back to his brother.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Odin preparing a lecture about the importance of keeping secrets, so she hurried to say, “How about we try to change Loki back? I think we need to blow more raspberries on his tummy.”

“Let me!” Thor begged and proceeded to do his best to make his brother laugh so he would turn pale again. He succeeded after only a few tries and clapped his hands in happiness when Loki changed back. Loki, in turn, mimicked him.

Frigga turned to Odin and whispered quietly, “So much for keeping it secret.”

* * *

The servants found out about a year and half later. Frigga had been on Vanaheim for six days when an urgent message reached her. She’d returned home at once with the help of the guardian of the Bifrost.

“Heimdall, what is going on?” she asked the moment she arrived. “Has my husband managed to start another war during my absence?” A thought came to her and her eyes widened. “Are my children alright?”

Heimdall, to his credit, only looked a little embarrassed when he said, “No war has been started and the princes are both healthy. There has been, however, another Incident with Prince Loki.”

Frigga groaned. “Who found out this time?” she asked wearily.

“His nanny, and some servants,” Heimdall informed her.

“And by some servants you mean all of them, I reckon?” she asked.

Heimdall nodded. “They are fond of gossip.”

“Don’t I know it?” Frigga sighed. “Well, it was bound to happen one day, no matter how much my husband loves living in denial. What made Loki change shape this time?”

“I believe,” Heimdall began, “the prince was upset because you weren’t there to kiss him goodnight. He has been most distressed since you went to Vanaheim, my queen.”

Something clenched in Frigga’s chest. “My poor boy. Is he still awake?”

“Still awake and still in his Jotun form,” Heimdall said.

Frigga winced. “Odin can’t be happy about that.”

“He is not,” Heimdall confirmed. “Hence why he sent for you.”

Frigga shook her head and gathered up her skirts as she made her way to one of the horses waiting outside the observatory. “I leave for one week …” she muttered.

* * *

By the time Loki turned four the Incidents had been so numerous that everyone in the palace knew about his heritage. It was only thanks to Odin’s threats that the news of Asgard’s Jotun prince didn’t spread beyond the palace walls. Frigga would have found it amusing how her husband still clung to the desperate hope of keeping Loki’s true origin hidden if it wasn’t so sad.

She kept her thoughts to herself, however, as Odin came to her after the latest Incident to demand she start Loki’s magical education now. In the past, Frigga had pointed out to him that their son was still too young to learn. Now Odin was at the end of his rope and she knew he wouldn’t take no for an answer anymore. So she smiled and nodded and only inwardly rolled her eyes at her husband’s lack of knowledge when it came to the workings of seiꝺr.

Still, she took Loki to the gardens that day and began to carefully explain why his room sometimes lit up in a warm golden light at night – the extent of Loki’s magical abilities so far except for his shape-shifting. Loki hung onto her every word as only a child so young could when she told him how his seiꝺr worked, what it was and what it meant to have it. It was just like a good story, after all, and where Thor was most interested in tales about slaying dragons and rescuing princesses Loki had always preferred stories about the wonders of the Nine Realms – and what greater wonder could there be than magic?

Frigga knew she couldn’t teach him anything yet since he wasn’t old enough to be able to wield so much power (no matter what Odin said) but she showed him what it was like to control magic and shape it to one’s will. She conjured two golden ravens and made them land on Loki’s shoulders, much to her son’s delight.

“They’re like Hugin and Munin!” Loki exclaimed.

Frigga leaned closer to him and whispered, “Only better.”

She made the ravens take flight and as they dove into the pond she shape-shifted them into frogs. In his excitement to look for them in the water Loki nearly lost his balance and would have fallen in had Frigga not grabbed hold of the edge of his tunic. “Be careful, Loki.”

“Where have they gone?” Loki asked unperturbed.

Frigga shook her head with a laugh and the frogs jumped out of the water only to turn into two beautiful flowers when they hit the ground. Loki reached out to touch them and they disintegrated in a shower of golden light. Frigga knelt down next to her son and put her arm around him. “When you’re older you will learn to do this and so much more. Your seiꝺr is a wonderful gift, one you must cherish and always use wisely.”

Loki was silent for a moment. “Mother?” he asked at last and looked up at her with a frown on his young face.

“Yes, my love?”

Loki chewed his lip. “Can magic turn you into a monster?”

The last word was said in such a quiet whisper that it broke Frigga’s heart. “Why do you ask that?”

Loki averted his eyes. “Because sometimes I turn blue,” he admitted. “Like the monsters from Jotunheim Father sometimes talks about.”

Anger welled up in Frigga. _Does he?_ she thought darkly. Someone would find their dinner spoiled this evening.

She tugged her little boy closer to her as images of Laufey and his family flickered to life before them. “This is King Laufey of Jotunheim,” she began quietly. “To his people he is much like your father is to ours. A leader, a protector, someone to look up to. Just because their appearance and customs are different from ours doesn’t mean that they are monsters. If they are, then so are we.”

“I don’t understand,” Loki confessed.

Frigga smiled at him. “Thor likes snakes, doesn’t he?” she asked, trying a different route to get her point across. Loki nodded as the illusion of King Laufey transformed into a large brown snake with blue markings. “To your brother, snakes are wonderful, fascinating creatures – anything but monsters. But now imagine being a mouse.”

Another frost giant changed shape until it was small and furry and sitting in front of the snake.

“Snakes eat mice,” Loki said. His eyes widened in realization. “So to a mouse a snake is a monster? But to Thor it is not?”

Proud, Frigga pressed a kiss to her son’s temple and let the illusions dissolve. “Exactly. The Jotnar are people just like we are. They may not be our allies but we owe them our respect nonetheless. It is a lesson your father still has to learn.”

“But why do I keep turning into one?” Loki asked, frowning at the place where Frigga’s projections had been but a moment before. He looked helplessly up at her. “Am I different?”

Frigga tightened her hold on him. “Everyone is different, my dear,” she began, knowing she would have to tread lightly now. “The Nine Realms would be very boring places if everyone were the same. But I will not lie to you, Loki. You deserve to know the truth.”

“That I am Jotun?” Loki whispered.

“Yes,” Frigga nodded. “Your father found you after the last great battle in one of their temples and he brought you home with him. It was one of the happiest days of my life.”

Loki’s lower lip began to tremble. “So you are not my mother?”

“Of course I am your mother,” Frigga told him gently. “I may not have brought you into this world but you are a child of my heart, Loki. You are as much my son as Thor is. I chose you, Loki, and I love you. Never doubt that.”

She pulled him into her arms as his tears started to fall. Gently, she rocked him just as she’d done when he’d been a baby. Between hiccups his form changed from pale to blue and back again.

She didn’t care.

* * *

All in all, Loki took the news of his adoption surprisingly well. There were tears and nightmares, of course, leading to more Incidents but it was nothing a mother’s love couldn’t fix in time. Odin, however, had been livid when he found out how exactly Frigga’s first magic lesson with Loki had gone.

“You told him what?” he asked, his voice reverberating through the throne room.

Frigga let it roll over her, not even a little ruffled by it. “I told him that he was adopted. What else was I supposed to say when he asked me if I was his mother?”

“You could have told him something, anything but that!” Odin shouted.

“I will not have any more lies within our family!” Frigga growled at him. “We have tried it your way and it failed just like I told you it would. Loki is four, husband. Only four, and yet he and everyone within these walls has already figured out what he truly is. It is time you face the truth as well.”

With that she turned around and stomped out of the room, ignoring his calls for her to remain.

* * *

Odin, predictably, didn’t listen to her. Instead of making an official announcement regarding Loki’s past and status he stayed silent. Thinking he could still keep his secrets hidden a little while longer he ordered that Loki was to be kept away when they had visitors and forbidden to leave the palace at all, deeming his magic too volatile and risky. Frigga took note of this with growing resentment but held her tongue. She knew it would be a futile effort on her husband’s part in the long run and was content in that knowledge for the time being. More importantly, Loki didn’t really seem to mind. He was still young and the palace offered him enough space to stretch his legs.

Loki was seven when all of Odin’s plans came crashing down in one spectacular and memorable event.

It was the anniversary of their wedding and delegations from Vanaheim and Alfheim were celebrating along with them on that beautiful summer day. Mead and wine flowed freely all day for Asgard’s people and were greatly appreciated in the heat. Laughter filled the throne room but Frigga’s heart wasn’t really in the celebrations. Heat in Asgard meant suffering for Loki and she would rather be with him than celebrate today. But she was queen and her duties to Asgard came before all else – something she didn’t necessarily always like but had come to accept over time nonetheless.

Odin, despite being the center of attention, noticed her unease. “What is wrong? This is a happy occasion and you look like you’re attending a funeral.”

Frigga forced her lips up into smile. “I am sorry, husband. I worry about Loki. He didn’t look well when I saw him this morning. I fear he is getting sick.”

“You worry too much,” he told her with a laugh. “The boy will be fine. He has Thor for company.”

It turned out Odin didn’t worry enough for a moment later the doors on their right opened and Loki stumbled inside, Thor hot on his heels. “Brother, you must not –“ He stopped and looked at hundreds of faces staring at them. “Um, greetings?”

Odin looked like he was having a brain aneurysm and Frigga had a hard time concealing her amusement. Before them, the two princes of Asgard were standing in simple tunics, hair unkempt and face flushed with fever in Loki’s case. Her youngest son’s gaze swept across the room and when it landed on her he took an unsteady step forward.

“Mother,” he began only to stop and sneeze. Inevitably, his form changed from Aesir to Jotun and the crowd with the exception of those serving in the palace gasped in surprise. Loki continued to make his way over to Frigga with Thor trailing a little awkwardly behind him, completely unperturbed by his sudden shape-shift. Frigga felt pride well up inside her that her youngest son had accepted his heritage so well that it barely made a difference to him which skin he wore.

“A trick!” Odin’s voice suddenly thundered through the hall, an edge of hysteria to it that made Frigga wince. “Our son is quite the trickster.”

Loki stopped in his tracks and blinked at him in confusion before he looked down at his hands and said in a small voice, “Oh.”

_No_ , Frigga thought, _I will not have Odin destroy him like this._

She stood up from her seat and made her way to her son’s side. Loki sneezed again and changed back to his Aesir form. Another sneeze and he was blue once more. He looked absolutely miserable. She smiled at him and gently pushed the hair out of his face. Reaching for Thor as well, she held both her sons’ hands tightly in hers and declared loudly, “Honored guests of Asgard, meet my sons, Thor and Loki! One born from my womb, the other from my heart. They are as they are and anyone who will not accept them as such is welcome to leave right now.”

Silence reigned throughout the room as Frigga pointedly threw a glare over her shoulder at her husband. No one moved until Odin, in a weary and resigned voice, said, “My wife speaks the truth.”

One corner of Frigga’s mouth twitched in satisfaction but her main attention returned to her sons.

“I feel terrible, mother,” Loki moaned and hid his face against her dress.

On her other side, Thor looked at him in concern. “He’s been sneezing and coughing all morning. I didn’t know what to do when he got worse and I couldn’t find anyone so I came here with him.” He bit his lip. “He was supposed to wait outside.”

Frigga laughed. “Oh, it is alright, Thor. You did great. I am so proud of you for taking care of your brother.” She turned her head to look at Loki. “How about we get you back to your room and ask Lady Eir for some help with your summer sickness?”

Loki sneezed and scrunched up his nose in the most adorable way. Frigga’s heart melted just as it had seven years ago when he first came into her life. “I would like that,” he replied, once more back in his Aesir form.

“Lady Eir?” Frigga looked around for her life-long friend. The healer stepped out of the crowd. “Would you please accompany the princes and myself back to their quarters? I’m afraid Prince Loki is once more in need of your aid.”

Eir bowed gracefully. “Of course, my queen.” She smiled at Loki and took the hand Frigga wasn’t holding in her own to steady him. “Let’s get you well again and maybe later I can teach you how you can keep your body temperature down during heat waves. I think you should be old enough to learn, now.”

She glanced at Frigga to make sure that was alright and Frigga nodded. “That’s a marvelous idea, don’t you think, Loki?”

Loki’s reply was another sneeze. In addition to turning blue little butterflies bust into existence above his head. Thor stared at them in awe while Frigga raised an amused eyebrow. “That is new.”

She left the celebrations with both her sons and Lady Eir, but not before turning back to look at her husband. “I think it would be wise to arrange for a meeting with King Laufey, wouldn’t you agree?”

* * *

This time, Odin listened to her. Two days after the celebration he left Asgard to meet with the king of Jotunheim. He came back grumbling but with good news.

“Laufey has agreed to lay no claims on Loki if we allow the boy to visit Jotunheim so he can learn about his people’s culture,” he told Frigga through gritted teeth.

Frigga smiled sweetly at him. “That’s wonderful! When will we be visiting?”

Odin glowered at her. “I told him not before next year.”

“Nonsense,” Frigga said, her smile and voice firm. “We will send word to King Laufey that we will arrive by the end of the week once Loki is feeling better. It will do him good to get out of this heat.”

“I have matters to attend to over the next few weeks,” Odin reminded her.

Frigga shrugged. “Then Lady Eir and I will take the boys to Jotunheim.” Before Odin could protest she added, “With a small army of our best warriors, of course.”

It had the desired effect. “If you’re sure …”

“I am sure, husband,” she told him and placed a reassuring hand on his arm. “We will be fine and it will be a great experience for both Thor and Loki.”

* * *

She turned out to be right, as always. While both Thor and Loki had been more than a little intimidated when they’d first arrived on Jotunheim they soon warmed up to the strange customs and even made some friends as only children could. They stayed for a week and by the end of it neither of her sons wanted to leave. Both Frigga and King Laufey had to assure them that they would come back soon and that their friends would visit them the moment winter came to Asgard.

Odin, for his part, patiently listened as Thor and Loki told him all about their adventures with the frost giants and made sure to stress that the Jotnar weren’t, in fact, monsters but very courteous and forthcoming.

“We’re friends,” Thor declared matter-of-factly, sounding like the king he would be some day.

“I am glad to hear it,” Odin said.

Frigga believed him. After all, her husband had taken Loki from Jotunheim all those years ago with the intention of using him to forge a peace between their people that went beyond treaties and handshake-promises. In the end his plan had worked, though not in the way he had intended it to. That didn’t matter now, of course. Odin got what he wanted and that was the important thing.

With a smile, Frigga gazed at her sons. They were talking excitedly about their new friends and the furry beasts the Jotuns kept as pets, completely lost in the tales of their trip.

She couldn’t be happier for them and looked forward to the years to come.

**The end**

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this little story! I certainly had a lot of fun writing it =)


End file.
